“If people are going to have to switch some of their disposable income into buying food now that’s not being supported by food stamps, then other types of retailers are going to be impacted too. And, it comes at a particularly bad time of year with Christmas just around the corner,” says Newton.

Newton adds the only good thing is that food inflation remains relatively modest.

A statewide effort underway called Feed Ohio is aimed at reducing potential cuts to a federal program that serves about 850,000 Ohioans.

Ohio Food bank leaders have joined with the Governor’s Office of Faith-based and Community Initiatives for the next two weeks, to encourage various organizations to help those struggling with hunger. Head of the Ohio Association of Foodbanks, Lisa Hamler-Fugitt says the cuts to the federal program known as SNAP will mean about $36 less food per month for a family of 4.

“Households and individuals that receive food stamps because of the supplemental benefit they’re already making tradeoffs because they have no additional income in which to supplement these modest benefits. So for a family of four it’s going to mean several days of food every month that is going to be foregone,” says Hamler-Fugitt.

Hamler-Fugitt says Ohio’s economy has not fully recovered from the Great Recession and many workers are not earning a living wage. About 16% of Ohioans now depend on SNAP and unless Congress acts the cuts will begin in November.

Ohioans who receive food stamps can expect fewer dollars this fall. The cuts are a result of the end of a federal program.

During the Great Recession, the federal government boosted nutrition assistance benefits by 13.6 percent. It was a one-time increase that took the place of smaller yearly adjustments which account for rising food costs.

But in November, the program ends. And people who receive food stamps will see a decrease in monthly benefits.

For the average family of three on food assistance, the cut amounts to about $30 a month.

But South Side resident Gail Kirk, 59, said losing any money â€“ no matter how small â€“ will hurt.

â€œOh it would mean a lot because the prices of food goes up every year.â€

Kirk sits on a folding chair inside the Lutheran Food Pantry on South Champion Avenue. Itâ€™s just opened. She listens to announcements and waits for her number to be called.

As she waits, she tells me about her diabetes and what she thinks is melanoma. Kirk receives Social Security and food stamp benefits. Times recently got tighter when her household expanded to seven. Her son and his children moved in with her. He was hurt at work.

â€œWhen you got kids and stuff in your household, you know, you have to go out and get soup, beans and potatoes and try to cook big meals for them,” Kirk said. “And if you are able to buy hamburger you try to make spaghetti or macaroni noodles with it or something to feed everybody in your household.”

David Newlen, 31, knows how to stretch a buck. His budget is about $2 a meal. Newlen, who lives on the North Side, sits behind Kirk. His ankle is wrapped in tattered bandages â€“ the result he said of multiple surgeries. His food stamp benefits will be cut by $11, down to $189 a month.

â€œYou cook three meals a day and everything,” he said. “$200 ainâ€™t enough to do that every day of the month.â€

Newlen said heâ€™s making it thanks to the food pantry.

â€œI mean barely. I mean, Iâ€™m gonna have to get by. I have no other choice but to. Iâ€™m not getting by comfortably I guess is what I could say.”

Ashley Horton, 25, sometimes uses the food pantry to supplement her food stamps. Horton has three school-age children, and sheâ€™s had trouble getting a job.

â€œSo losing $30 in food stamps, just imagine how many more times I will be at the pantry,” Horton said.

The Lutheran Food Pantry on South Champion Avenue saw a 2.5 percent increase in clients between June and July. And its director David Drumm expects the increases to continue, especially after the cuts this fall.

â€œBudget stays the same for a year but the clients keep coming up,” Drumm said. “So itâ€™s a challenge to try to find the food we need for everybody.â€

Money isn’t just tight for the food pantryâ€™s clients; itâ€™s tight at the food pantry. Drumm is planning additional fundraisers this year.

]]>http://wosu.org/2012/news/2013/08/08/food-assistance-recipients-brace-for-cuts/feed/0food assistance,food stamps,SNAPOhioans who receive food stamps can expect fewer dollars this fall. The cuts are a result of the end of a federal program.Ohioans who receive food stamps can expect fewer dollars this fall. The cuts are a result of the end of a federal program.WOSU Newsno2:48